Scribbler's 2-for-1 Special: NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships

Although no team has received more attention in my 36 years of life than that team who wears burgundy and gold and plays in Landover, I used to be a bigger fan of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball during the 80s and 90s than the NFL.  Heck, I was even more willing to watch regular season games in college basketball than the NBA because between the energy of the crowds, the brewing rivalries between schools and the hunger and raw talent of the players, college hoops have always been a little more exciting.  Although the Georgetown Hoyas, the Maryland Terrapins and the Michigan Wolverines have always been my top three teams, respectively, there have always been "prisoner of the moment" teams on my list like the 1989-90 UNLV Running Rebels with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, George Ackles and Greg Anthony; or even the 1990-91 Duke Blue Devils with Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill--who amazed me just being able to play ball with that hideously obstructive face mask after suffering a broken nose in a loss to Virginia.  So when March Madness would roll around, it was pretty much "don't even look at me and think we're going to have a meaningful conversation" time.  So in honor of the upcoming title game next Monday, I've decided to do a "Rave & Favorite Five" of the the most memorable and/or most personal championship games in my lifetime.  Oh, and it happens to be the "11th Hour Post of the Week", too, so you're welcome once again...

The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 3

As a tenth grader at School Without Walls Senior High School in Northwest D.C., my exceptionally brilliant humanities teacher steered us away from generic textbooks and encouraged us to consult primary source information first when it came to understanding social, political and historical events.  Her thinking was that general and secondary sources allowed for less detail and more cultural bias whereas primary source information was directly from the people with the experience(s) being researched.  Apparently, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump doesn't believe in that as he is a constant violator of former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs coach Herman Edwards' "Don't Hit Send" warning.  Whether it's via social media or just opening his mouth, Trump says whatever he wants whenever he desires without any defendable form of mental preparedness, verification or fact checking until someone corrects him.  As problematic as this is for a presidential candidate, he is representative of an even larger dilemma in American society: taking information as presented from questionable sources to make an argument without enough supporting facts from more reliable sources.  Hence, in this third installment of "The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé", I will get into Trump potentially being the poster child of America's miseducation...

Scribbler's 3-for-1 After Tuesday Special: A Tribute to Phife Dawg

Now y'all know that something or someone has to be special for me to buck the trend and post on a Wednesday when this blog is New Problem Tuesdays.  However, if special exceptions are made when popes, kings, queens, princes, princesses, presidents and political leaders pass away, then the same must be done for hip-hop royalty.  When I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed last night before bed and saw a report that Malik Taylor aka Phife Dawg--one-fourth of one of my favorite hip-hop groups of all time, A Tribe Called Quest--had passed away at the age of 45, my heart immediately sunk and I knew that his storied bout with diabetes was the culprit--although the family hadn't confirmed it yet.  It made me feel two different things: 1) I felt like I lost one of my favorite uncles or older brothers and 2) I hate diabetes with a passion because of what it can do to people over time, especially if not properly handled.  I immediately resigned myself to listen to my two favorite albums of theirs, The Low End Theory (1991) and Midnight Marauders (1993)--the latter being the very first hip-hop album that I ever purchased.  Then I thought, "How can I honor Phife Dawg without unveiling my 'Rave & Favorite Five' hip-hop duos & groups too soon and going out of order again and waiting until next Tuesday to do it?"  The answer is threefold: 1) Tribe albums will be "In Heavy Rotation" for a while; 2) by the time this post hit the Innanets, it will be an "11th Hour Post of the Week"; and 3) I can share my "Rave & Favorite Five" Phife Dawg verses.  (You see what I did there...you're welcome.)  Hence, I bring you the first "3-for-1 After Tuesday Special" in NPT history.  Let's roll...

Scribbler's 2-for-1 Tuesday Special: Into the Spring of Things

Ah, the spring...my favorite season of all.  All that's missing is some Antonio Vivaldi.  However, what always trips me out about the Vernal Equinox aka "The First Day of Spring" is that it rarely feels like spring, and Sunday proved that as it was snowing in certain parts of the East Coast.  Nonetheless, I was ecstatic to know that winter--which oddly enough was my favorite season as a kid--was taking all of the hats, gloves and booties with it.  As was the case, I was on my way to work yesterday and realized that I still hadn't figured out my "Rave & Favorite Five" for today--despite having literally typed out a nine-pages-and-counting document of bullet-point ideas that should keep this series going for at least the next year and a half.  Suddenly, seeing the sun high in the sky and knowing that the weather was about to gradually get warmer, it's like God gave me an alley-oop for an off-script concept.  Hence, I present to you my five favorite things about spring.  So as some of you are dreading having to buy stock in Claritin and Allegra over the next month or two, allow me to share what makes spring so awesome in this "2-for-1 Tuesday Special" of my "Rave & Favorite Five" as well as the "11th Hour Post of the Week".  (I know that my continuous generosity is more than you can handle, but try to contain yourself there, buckaroo.)  Just try not to hock too loudly or sneeze too disgustingly on your smartphone, tablet or computer screen as your allergies flare up at the thought of this first thing...

The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 2

Whether we choose to admit it or not, America loves a trash talker--whether that love is actually loving the person's platform or loving to hate everything for which they represent.  When someone gets our blood boiling, it gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning to stand against their flawed system of values with our best devised strategies or just to punch him or her in the mouth one good time.  Even if we aren't able to do that for lack of toughness, tangibility or bail money, the drama starter nevertheless makes for more of an intriguing piece of scuttlebutt than someone who avoids controversy like the plague.  In Part 1 of this four-part series, "America the Divided," I delved into America's historic separatism and how Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is merely a cog in the systematic machine of racial, religious, gender and other forms of cultural and political separation.  Serving as a perfect segue to this week's installment of "The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé", I continue in my assertions that while Trump's blustering rhetoric appears to be nothing more than disunifying rabble-rousing, his tactics are not germane to one particular group of people who superficially look, sound, act or think like him...

Scribbler's 2-for-1 Tuesday Special: Kendrick Lamar, "untitled unmastered."

If you don't know how big of a Kendrick Lamar fan I am by now, then you haven't been following this blog very long.  (Catch up here and here.  No excuses now.)  So when I get a TIDAL notification on March 4th at 1:24 a.m. saying, "New music from Kendrick Lamar. Listen now," my immediate reaction was, "Wait a minute...is this another instance where I'm the last to know about something?!?!  How come no one told me of this momentous occasion until this very moment?!?!"  Then I thought, "'Listen now'???  Uhhhh duhhhhh...of course I'm gonna listen now!  What else would I be doing at 1:24 in the morning except playing Madden, watching Knight Rider reruns or, I don't know, actually sleeping?!?!"  So after seeing a few Facebook posts from people who were baited into doing the same thing, I listened to what were clearly the songs that didn't make Lamar's critically-acclaimed, Grammy-award-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and guess what?  I didn't eeeeeem care.  This was still new music to me and, more important, new Kendrick Lamar music.  So it wouldn't be true to my integrity as an avid music lover if I let a week go by without sharing my two cents about untitled unmastered. in this "2-for-1 Tuesday Special"--giving you all an "In Heavy Rotation" special edition as well as my "Rave & Favorite Five" post for the week. (I know...I'm so generous...I shouldn't have.)  Let's get at it, kiddies...

The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 1

Observing the meteoric rise of businessman Donald Trump during his campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, several pundits, political analysts and social media experts have run to the same defense: "There's no way that Trump can win the general election.  The American voter is much smarter than that and this would be an insult to their intelligence."  However, let's keep it 100: is the rise of Trump and the real possibility that he could be the 45th President an insult to the American voter and the democratic political process that we darn near deify, or is it an indictment of America?  At so many patriotic events, we are encouraged to sing Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward's "America the Beautiful" as a sign of our solidarity with what is often billed as "the greatest" or "the most powerful" nation in the world.  Given the historically divisive social climate in our country, how "beautiful" is or has America ever been and to what "greatness" is Trump truly returning us?  He represents everything that many Americans--regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, generational gap, religion, etc.--believe and exhibit, whether they realize it or not.  In a four-part series over the next several weeks, I intend to highlight many of the harsh and sobering realities about America and manifest just how "American" Donald Trump is...

Why "Nina" Could Be One of the Biggest Critical and Commercial Failures of All Time

 

Not everyone can be as dope as Denzel Washington was in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992); in fact, many people to this day still feel like Washington was cheated out of an Academy Award for his stirringly convincing portrayal.  (Surprise, surprise.)  Angela Bassett rose to new heights with her Oscar-nominated performance as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)--not to mention that Laurence Fishburne was so Ike Turner that you had to remind yourself not to hate him in anything else!  Delivering an Oscar-winning performance in Ray (2004), Chris Rock recently drove home this point: "Jamie Foxx was so good in Ray that they went to the hospital and unplugged the real Ray Charles.  It's like, 'We don't need two of these!'"  In these instances, it is evident that casting the right people to play real-life legends can be done.  However, not all biopics are created equal.  Bringing the late, great Notorious B.I.G. to the big screen was met with mixed results in Notorious (2009)  as it seemed to place film co-producer Sean "Puffy" Combs in more of a favorable light while pissing off Lil' Kim and many of her faithful fans for how she was portrayed.  Also see one of the biggest casting failures of all time as Flex Alexander was selected to play Michael Jackson in Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story (2005)--a film produced for VH1 that did not even feature any of Jackson's songs, but merely mentioned them in passing.

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #1 Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

As I've gotten older, four things must happen to complete any given summer: 1) I must take a trip to Hains Point and watch the sunset; 2) I must have a burnt hotdog at somebody's cookout; 3) I must hear "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince towards the beginning of the summer; and 4) I must take a daytime cruise in my car with the windows down and listen to Maze & Frankie Beverly.  That's how intrinsic this legendary group's music is to my life and they have sooooooo many good songs.  "Happy Feelin's" gives you exactly that.  "Southern Girl" was part of the reason that I swore up and down that I'd end up with a thick chick from below the Mason-Dixon line with the most irresistible accent ever.  "Joy and Pain" is just real and dope.  "Can't Get Over You" just takes me back to a good time in childhood.  "Silky Soul" made me miss Marvin Gaye just like The Commodores' "Night Shift" did.  Even lesser-discussed hits like "Love's on the Run" are memorable because they were just catchy and unmistakably Maze.  Of course, "Before I Let Go"...well, you're just not Black if this song doesn't make you get up and dance.  Like seriously...Henry Louis Gates needs to bring you on Finding Your Roots to question everything you ever knew about yourself.

Scribbler's 11th Hour Post of the Week: Why Chris Rock Was the Right Host for the Oscars

I don't know how this debate ever got started among Black people, but it's one of the many moments where we just have to compare two people who are often nothing like each other stylistically speaking.  For years, the question was who's the funnier comedian between Chris Tucker and Chris Rock?  Maybe it's because they're both Black and named Chris, but whatever.  Most people I know said Chris Tucker was funnier, and I understood it because between Friday, Money Talks and Rush Hour, he frankly made better and funnier movies.  On cue, a lot of those same people said that Chris Rock wasn't funny at all...because no two Black folk being compared to each other can both be good.  (See the Jay-Z vs. Nas, Beyonce vs. Rihanna or old school hip-hop vs. new school hip-hop debates as the evidence behind my shade.)  However, although Tucker was funny as a stand-up comedian, I've always preferred Chris Rock in that capacity because I felt like he injected more social commentary without sacrificing the funny.  I thought the whole "you put the money in a book" bit from Bring the Pain (1996) was one of the funniest things that I've ever heard because, like most poignant comedy, there's a lot of truth behind that joke that says so much more about the issues in our community than the punch line can convey.  So amidst the most scared section of White America not having the best five-year period regarding race relations let alone the best Black History Month, it was only fitting that Chris Rock hosted the 88th Academy Awards.

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #3 The Isley Brothers

My love for The Isley Brothers ironically began in 1985 two years after the 3 + 3 lineup formed in 1973 were split into two groups: The Isley Brothers in which only O'Kelly, Ron and Rudolph Isley remained; and Isley-Jasper-Isley, consisting of Ernie Isley, Chris Jasper and Marvin Isley.  The latter trio's most popular album, Caravan of Love (1985), stood out in my memory for three reasons: 1) out of all the records in my dad's extensive collection at the time, the Sahara-inspired cover was the most indelible; 2) their biggest hit, "Caravan of Love," was in constant rotation on the radio and their follow-up single, "Insatiable Woman," captured my attention even more; and 3) as the opening act for Luther Vandross in a 1986 concert at the Capital Centre, they were the first act that I recall seeing live.  (Mind you, Luther never showed, but we won't go there.)  The most memorable part of that concert was the tribute to O'Kelly, who had passed away from a heart attack not long before the show.  From there, I just kept discovering more and more songs to love from all six of the Teaneck, New Jersey  implants by way of Cincinnati because their sound was truly their sound.  It's rock...it's funk...it's soul...it's just a little bit of everything that I love from my favorite bands.  Now here's an honest moment: it took me at least a decade to warm up more to their uptempo stuff because I felt like their strength as a band were their ballads--and I still strongly feel that way.  So let's dig into the five songs that resonate with me the most from my third favorite R&B band of all time...